Previous proposals have been made for attaching grading blades to backhoe buckets. Such blades would be desirable because the backhoes are often used to excavate established lawns or other planted areas which need to be restored to their original condition after the excavation is complete. Typically such excavations are used in the installation of water or sewer pipes or wiring, etc. Since, in most cases, the backhoe is the only mechanized implement on the excavation site it has been necessary to do much of the grading and refilling of the trench by hand.
Previous suggestions such as the attachments shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,529 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,512 have not gained commercial acceptance due to various shortcomings. For example, the blade of the former patent is limited in practical effect to the original width of the bucket due to inherit weaknesses in the system of mounting the blade on the bucket. The '512 patent, in contrast, shows a more sturdy mounting system. However the sockets shown in that patent for receiving the blade attachments remain fixed in place thereby unacceptably widening the profile of the backhoe bucket. Due to such widening the digging efficiency of the bucket is seriously impaired resulting in a lack of commercial acceptance.
In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, a need has continued to exist for improved blade attachments would enable a backhoe bucket to be used for refilling and grading of the trench created by the backhoe.